When off-site employees clock in before reaching the job site or forget to clock out even after leaving the job site, for each minute the clock keeps running, it adds to your labor cost.
Be it a small or large number of workers, if this keeps happening day after day, it’ll drain you financially by adding unproductive hours to your employee’s timesheets.
This blog lists all the time clock software with GPS that could save time and money for your business and enforce accountability among your workforce.
Best time clock software with GPS
1. Hubstaff
Buddy punching, time theft, lack of accountability, and inaccurate timesheets are a few problems you want to solve when managing employees who have to work in different locations during a single day, week, or month.
But you’re not the only one who’s looking for a solution. More than 40,000 businesses were struggling just like you. But when they chose Hubstaf’s time clock app with GPS to track their employees working in off-site environments( such as landscapers showing up in different job locations), it minimized or almost eliminated the accountability issues those businesses faced. They used Hubstaff’s Geofencing and GPS tracking features to keep their employees accountable no matter what occurs in a workday.
I’ll provide more details on the Geofencing and GPS tracking features so you can understand how businesses work.
Hubstaff Geofencing Feature- No more Buddy punching
The problem it solves:
Buddy punching and time theft cost small and large businesses alike. One employee shares login credentials that their colleague can use to clock them into work. To prevent this from happening, businesses often rely on team leads who are supposed to keep an eagle eye while being present in the job location. The problem arises when that team lead has to be in five different job locations.
Hubstaff’s geofencing feature automatically clocks in and out an employee when their phone is within the geofence. Unless your employee hands over their phone to another( most unlikely), buddy punching would be prevented. Even if one uses their phone to sign in to their co-worker’s account, it will sign them out, so their time tracking will stop.
How does it work?
The Geofencing functionality of Hubstaff allows you to create a job site by specifying the address, the geofencing radius, and the employees involved at that site. You can opt for automatic clocking in once your employee’s device enters the geofencing radius and starts tracking their time, or you can send reminders to your workers to clock in once they arrive at the job location.
When they leave the radius, the timer tracking their work hours automatically stops and sends a notification to inform them that they’ve left the job site range. So, it accurately tracks the time your employees work, and you pay them for the exact hour they’ve worked at a location. Hubstaff also allows you to add hourly rates to make the payments spot-on.
Common Use Cases
The Geofencing feature is mostly used by businesses having mobile or field service teams. Landscapers, HVAC technicians, Construction, pest control, real estate, property management, removal/moving services, plumbing, and other companies can use this feature as their crew has to move to different locations in a day so that they can automatically track when crew members start, leave and the amount of time spent in the job location.
You can set up any number of job sites with Hubstaff as you want, as the pricing is based on per user basis. So you can form any number of teams and send them across different job sites, and the geofencing feature will ensure accurate timesheets.
Based on the hours worked and hourly rates, Hubstaff will automatically create the invoice so that your team will be spared from creating invoices. Creating nicely designed, trackable invoices doesn’t come high up on their list of priorities as they have a lot to focus on.
How Do I Set Up Geofencing with Hubstaff?
It’s very simple:
- Visit the Hubstaff website and sign up for a free 14-day trial( No credit card required).
- On the dashboard, visit ‘Job sites’ and manually add job sites.
- Add members or teams who’ll be tracked for that job site and choose the automatic timer options.
- Add the email address of each member, and a link to download the app will be sent to them. Once they download the time clock app on their mobile devices( Android or iOS), they need to grant permission.
- Send your employees or teams to job sites and let the geofencing feature automatically punch them in or send notifications for them to punch in using the Hubstaff app.
- Use the detailed reports or live maps utility to verify accountability and create automatic timesheets and payroll.
Hubstaff GPS Tracking- access real-time employee data
The problem it solves
Imagine calling your workers to know their location so you can share the ETA with your customers. But your employee is so involved in doing their work or filling the time cards that they miss picking up your call on time. So your customer waits for the ETA, you become frustrated, and the next time your employee picks up the call, you’re in a rage.
Hubstaff GPS tracking functionality solves this problem brilliantly by giving you real-time access to your worker’s current locations, previous routes, and time stamps that show where your workers were at specific times on the route. Through the dashboard, you can see how long it took them to get from one location to another, how much time was spent on picking up supplies and most importantly, the ETA that you can share( live location) with customers to provide better customer experience.
Plus, Hubstaff makes your work super flexible by allowing you to use GPS monitoring through mobile apps. So even when you’re on the go, you can track and see all the details of your individual employees and teams.
How does it work?
Once your employees download the Hubstaff mobile application through the link you share from your dashboard and grant permission for tracking, you’ll be able to view when the tracking started and ended and see their live location. Sharing the ETA with your customer is a matter of a few clicks on your dashboard.
You’ll see the exact time your employee was at a specific location and their routes. The best thing with Hubstaff is that the routes, locations, and tracking time are recorded( Set the location tracking setting to “Always”). You can come back to that data at any time for accountability purposes. So you better understand how many hours goes into each job and can make precise estimates and plan on saving costs. For example, optimizing routes taken by your team to save fuel costs and time spent traveling.
Common Use Cases:
The GPS tracking feature is most commonly used by businesses where teams or individual employees work at different locations during a month or a week, such as HVAC technicians, landscapers, and construction, to name a few. This feature provides real-time data on employee location, the route they have taken to reach job sites, and how much time is spent on taking supplies for these works.
Hence, accurate and automatic timesheets are generated based on the exact time your employees have worked. Save you hundreds of dollars per employee by preventing inaccurate timesheets, that’s so common with manual timesheet preparation from paper time cards.
How do I set up GPS tracking with Hubstaff?
This process is simpler than setting up geofencing:
- Go to the ‘app store’ or ‘play store’ and download the app
- Ask your employees to enter their account credentials to sign in
- They can start tracking time by clicking on the project/tasks assigned
Note: Hubstaff offers Geofencing, GPS location tracking, and team management features in the Hubstaff Field plan.
What do businesses say about Hubstaff?
Hubstaff’s GPS tracking software has 1317 reviews with an average of 4.6 out of 5 rating on Capterra at the time of writing. I’ve pulled a few relevant reviews left by customers that highlight the GPS functionality of Hubstaff.
Hubstaff Field Pricing:
Field Pro: $10 per user per month.
Desk Field: $12 per user per month.
Enterprise: Contact for a customized plan.
Get Started With Hubstaff
2. Connecteam
Connecteam comes with GPS time tracking and Geofencing features. However, what sets it apart from other time clock apps with GPS is its intuitive, very easy-to-use, highly customizable interface. Clocking in is as easy as just opening the app. You’ll be able to ensure that your employees are clocking in from the dedicated locations you’ve set up.
Moreover, the activity board shows when employees clocked in or out( plus the project they’re working on) through a map view that provides a broad overview of how your employees are doing.
The GPS and Geofencing feature of Connecteam streamlines the Payroll Process by ensuring accurate and super visual timesheets. You’ll see the total hours, Break hours, overtime, daily total, absence, breaks, and everything you need through one dashboard.
It also has an instant chat option, allowing you to instantly communicate with your employees from the dashboard. So you can send shift updates, share notifications, and pass important messages from CEOs to your team members without going to other communication apps.
What do businesses say about Connecteam?
Connceteam has 207 reviews with an average of 4.7 out of 5 rating on Capterra at the time of writing. I’ve pulled a relevant review left by customers that highlights the GPS functionality of Homebase.
Connecteam Pricing:
Connecteam offers Basic, Advanced, Expert, and Enterprise plans.
| Feature | Basic | Advanced | Expert | Enterprise |
| GPS Geolocation stamps | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Geo-fence | Doesn’t Include | For 10 Sites | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Price(Yearly): | $29/month | $49/month | $99/month | Custom Price |
Get Started With Connecteam.
Also, Looking for synchronous meeting software? Read our review of Geekbot vs. DailyBot to streamline your daily standups and team communication.
3. Buddy Punch
Your employee handing over their phone to their co-workers to buddy punch is a scenario unlikely to happen that you think. But what will you do to prevent it if it becomes the case? All the time clock software providers I’ve reviewed don’t consider this possibility. However, Buddy Punch is different, and they understand that a few employees working at off-site locations can do time theft through mutual understanding among them.
So Buddy Punch includes a ‘Webcam Photos on Punch’ feature in its time tracking app. If you enable the option, your employees will be prompted to take a photo of themselves while clocking in and out, adding an extra layer of accountability. The photos they take would be visible in the timesheet for you to verify that the person who punched in was your employee and not the co-worker to whom the phone was handed over.
What do businesses say about Buddy Punch?
Buddy Punch has 764 reviews with an average of 4.8 out of 5 rating on Capterra at the time of writing. I’ve pulled a relevant review left by customers that highlight the GPS functionality of Buddy Punch.
Buddy Punch Pricing
Buddy Punch offers three plans- Standard, Pro, and Enterprise
Each plan offers the functionalities of GPS Coordinates and geofences, IP Address Locking, and Webcam Photos on Punches.
When billed annually,
The standard plan costs- $2.99 per user per month
Pro plan costs- $3.99 per user/month
Enterprise– Custom Pricing
Get Started with Buddy Punch.
4.WhenIwork
When I Work comes with a robust Geofencing feature. Though just like other apps, it allows you to set up location-based restrictions upon clocking in and out of your employees, you can decide the precise distance from the job location within which they’ll be allowed to punch in or out, be it 100 or 1000 meters.
However, What truly sets it apart from other time clock apps with GPS is its added layer of accountability in geofencing, particularly for your supervisors and managers who punch in from computer devices. You can integrate an IP address-based clocking in or clocking in which they’ll be able to punch in or out only if their device is connected to the location’s internet connection.
What do businesses say about when I work?
When I Work has 998 reviews with an average of 4.5 out of 5 rating on Capterra at the time of writing. I’ve pulled a relevant customer review highlighting When I Work’s GPS functionality.
When I Work Pricing:
When I Work comes in two plans- Standard & Advanced.
Standard costs $4.00/ user when you include GPS Enforcement in mobile clocking in/out.
The advanced plan costs $8.00/ user for the same, but it includes advanced scheduling options.
Get Started with WhenIWork.
5. Homebase
All GPS time clocks help you ensure that your employees are at the right location while clocking in, and Homebase is no different- it, too, comes with GPS tracking and geofencing features. But what sets it apart from others is its robust time-tracking system that helps ensure your labor costs are on the right track and you don’t land into complex sites concerning labor laws.
Like, when your employees forget to clock out, the Homebase GPS time clock app sends reminders and automatically clocks them out. Before your employees hit overtime, you get notified. Hence your business stays in compliance with federal and state labor laws.
However, Homebase doesn’t have a mileage tracking feature. So if your employees do their job by driving around and you need to track their routes and mileages, Homebase isn’t the one for you.
What do businesses say about Homebase?
Homebase has 882 reviews with an average of 4.6 out of 5 rating on Capterra at the time of writing. I’ve pulled a relevant review left by customers that highlight the GPS functionality of Homebase.
Homebase Pricing:
Note: The best thing about Homebase’s pricing is that they don’t charge based on the number of employees but on a per-location basis. You can manage any number of employees for a particular location, say an office, warehouse, storefront, etc.…
Homebase offers Four Plan
The Basic plan comes free of cost, where you can manage unlimited employees in one location.
The Essential plan comes at $20 per month per location
The Plus Plan comes at $48 per month per location
The ALL-IN-ONE pack at $80 per month per location
Get Started with Homebase.
6. Mitrefinch
Mitrefinch ensures your employees clock in or out from the right place when you enable GPS tracking and geofencing features. You get to know when and from where your employees clocked in and see their movement and the idle time spent. And you’ll have real-time access to this information.
However, Mitrefinch takes the functionality of these features one step further by enabling employees to clock in or out when the device has no network access. The device will store the clockings and synchronize them with the server when the network becomes available. So the time clock will keep running, and your employee can’t give the excuse of a network issue to cover the time theft, resulting in you paying your workers for the exact time they worked.
Further, Mitrefinch makes employee management more flexible by enabling many functions such as Clocking ‘a single or a group of employees in or out in a single translation’, viewing ‘live employee onsite list,’ doable from the smart devices of your managers and supervisors. So they could be involved in their managerial tasks even when they’re on the go.
What do businesses say about Mitrefinch?
Mitrefinch has 55 reviews with an average of 4.3 out of 5 rating on Capterra at the time of writing. I’ve pulled a relevant review left by customers that highlight the GPS functionality of Mitrefinch.
Mitrefinch Pricing:
Mitrefinch isn’t transparent about its pricing. Click here to contact Mitrefinch for custom pricing.
Also, Looking for the best delivery route planning software? Read our in-depth review of top Routfic Competitors in this blog.
7. Quickbooks Time
Ensuring your employees work from the right location and, building trust, enforcing accountability using GPS tracking and geofencing is one thing, but what if a time clock with GPS helps improve your workforce efficiency? Yea, it’s real with Quickbooks time. For instance, Quickbooks’s GPS time tracking feature will let you know which employees are closest to the next job site. Together with its ability to instantly schedule new jobs, you’ll be able to get more done in a day by scheduling the right employee to the right job site at the right time.
The GPS tracking feature also includes automatic mileage tracking. You’ll know exactly how far your employees travel while they’re on the clock. So filing taxes and reimbursing expenses become easy.
Note: The Time Premium plan doesn’t include mileage tracking and geofencing features. For that, you need to opt for their Elite plan.
What do businesses say about Quickbook Times?
Quickbooks Time has 5974 reviews with an average of 4.7 out of 5 rating on Capterra at the time of writing. I’ve pulled a relevant review left by customers highlighting the GPS functionality of Quickbooks Time.
Quickbook Time Pricing:
They offer two plans
Time Premium and Time Elite
The Premium plan comes at $10 per month plus $8 per user per month.
The Elite Plan is $20 per month plus $10 per user.
Get Started with Quickbook Time.
8. Timecamp
Though Timecamp’s GPS tracker is still a Beta version, you can use it to track the location of your employees. Once you choose the user group, you want to accurately track data related to the user’s duration of work, timestamp, the distance they traveled, and the routes they’ve taken available for you to see. You can see the detailed report in the dashboard and share it with TC. From the same dashboard, you can mark your employees’ tasks as “billable” so that an Invoice can be created right from there.
However, Timecamp doesn’t provide the Geofencing feature yet. And if automatic clocking in when your employees reach within the marked radius isn’t an absolute need, then Timecamp’s much lower price makes it a great choice. And their free plan is something I shouldn’t forget to mention!
One more downside of Timecamp is that you can only access the dashboard from a website, not a mobile app used by managers and employees with restricted access.
What do Businesses say about Timecamp?
Timecamp has 572 reviews with an average of 4.7 out of 5 rating on Capterra at the time of writing. I’ve pulled a relevant review left by customers that highlights the GPS functionality of Homebase.
To know more about the complete feature pack of Timecamp, visit their website here.
Timecamp Pricing:
The GPS tracking feature is available on Free, Basic, Pro, and Enterprise plans.
The free version is available for unlimited users with limited features
The basic version costs $6.30 per user,
The Pro version costs $9 per user
The enterprise plan comes with custom pricing.
Get Started with Timecamp.
9. Zoomshift
Zoomshift employee scheduling software offers GPS time tracking and geofencing features. However, Zoomshift made its way to this list because of the price at which you can get these features and other employee scheduling features.
What do businesses say about Zoomshift?
ZoomShift has 94 reviews with an average of 4.5 out of 5 rating on Capterra at the time of writing. I’ve pulled a relevant review left by customers that highlights the GPS functionality of ZoomShift.
Zoomshift Pricing:
Zoomshift offers three plans
Starter, Premium, and Enterprise
Starter: $2 per active team member per month that doesn’t include GPS Time Clock and Geofencing
Premium: $4 per monthly active team member, offering geofencing and GPS Time tracking.
Enterprise: custom price.
Get Started with Zoomshift.
Read More:
- Looking for affordable SaaS e-commerce platforms for your small business? Read our detailed review of the top 10 most affordable e-commerce platforms.
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